Protecting your brain from cognitive decline

On a scale of 1-10, how important is your brain health to you? I’m guessing that you would consider your brain health to be extremely important, as you should. In my work as a cognitive stimulation instructor and transformational aging health coach, I see the effects of poor diets, sedentary lifestyles and years of bad habits have on the brain.

I work with people from 50-97 years old in a senior care community and in my private practice and its a sad sight to see someone that you love decline cognitively.

In order to improve your cognitive health you must start today. Take the steps necessary to improve your overall health in order to protect yourself from decline. The one thing you must understand is your motivation for why your cognitive health is important to you.

Being able to remember the names of your children and grandchildren is one factor, your quality of life, independence and dignity are more factors to consider.

I’m sure that you want to travel, drive your car, enjoy your time with your spouse or partner, but a loss of memory puts a halt to everything that you hold dear. So let’s get your health now, while there’s an opportunity to make significant progress toward longevity, life extension and improving your memory.

Genetic variants can play a major role in cognitive decline, running a genetics test can help determine whether you’re at risk. Lifestyle factors may include low activity levels, not getting enough nature time for sunlight, as Vitamin D plays a major role in cognitive health.

Lack of social interaction can lead to depression and that leads to accelerated decline in mental health. We thrive when we’re around people that love us, but with the Coronavirus pandemic, social interaction has been extremely limited.

Unfortunately, this has caused much pain for those in the senior care community. Some people haven’t gotten the virus, but being isolated has caused just as much damage for individuals as the virus would.

According to the Cleveland Clinic’s six pillars of brain health, found at www.healthybrains.org, social interaction, sleep, exercise, nutrition and medical health are significantly important for maximizing brain health.

• Physical fitness — Movement of the body helps improve blood flow to the brain and improves memory. The connection between the nerves of the brain and the body improve with consistent exercise. Regular exercise improves the mood and reduces stress levels. Doing a mix of strength training, mobility, stretching and cardiovascular activities all help with enhancing memor y and learning capabilities.

• Supportive nutrition — Trans fats and saturated fats can have a negative impact on brain health. It is recommended that you focus more on polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats such as avocado, flaxseed, chia seeds, olive oil, almonds and walnuts for healthy fats that help with brain health, digestive health and joint pain. Focusing on foods such as leafy greens, blueberries, eggplant, beets and other colorful fruits and veggies can provide a plethora of antioxidants that help to prevent plaque build up in the brain.

• Medical health — Being able to control your weight, blood pressure, depression or other health concerns are paramount to preventing cognitive decline. Going hand-in-hand with fitness and supportive nutrition, keeping your blood pressure normal, ensuring that you maintain a healthy weight will come from eating a clean, heart healthy diet along with daily exercise.

• Good sleep hygiene — One of easiest things you can do to protect your brain health is to get more rest and relaxation time. People that only get less than seven hours of sleep tend to be more susceptible to cognitive decline. They also hold more stress, carry more fat and age a lot faster than those who get seven to nine hours of sleep, daily. Upon waking and before going to bed, try completing 10-30 minutes of meditation to lower stress, re-energize your mind and focus your thoughts.

• Engage socially — I have seen what isolation does to the elderly. This pandemic has done a number on our senior care community as we isolated them from interaction with others. Being able to socialize and participate in activities is stimulating for the mind. The lack of interaction leads to loneliness and depression. We must find creative ways to engaged in social groups that we care about in order to stimulate your brains for further growth.

Cognitive health is so important for our independence; we must actively engage in developing our mental, spiritual and physical health to build our cognitive abilities. Your brain is muscle that must be exercised every day; you either use it or lose it.

Ron Kusek is an Air Force veteran with over 15 years of experience as a transformational aging health coach. He is a certified cognitive stimulation instructor, personal trainer, yoga instructor, nutrition coach and functional health chef. He provides a high end, bespoke coaching service that includes personalized meal planning and preparation, fitness programming and yoga lessons. For more information, send an email to kusekhealthgroup@gmail.com